A couple who pulled their children out of school to backpack around the globe while ‘world schooling’ them say it is ‘less stressful’ than living in the UK.
Lauren Tyson, 31, a content creator from Sudbury, and her husband, Roy, 37, always had a passion for travel and dreamed of travelling full-time with their two and five-year-olds.
Their eldest ‘hated’ school and the couple decided to pull him out and backpack around the globe while homeschooling him in January.
Lauren and Roy, an artist, still follow the English curriculum and spend a few hours a day studying with their son before exploring Ko Samui, Thailand as family.
Lauren said: “The experience the children get - they’d never get in the UK. I’d never want them to get behind.
“My husband and I went backpacking in 2015 and 2016 before we had children – we really enjoyed it. The kids have always enjoyed travelling and we always dreamed of travelling full time.”
Lauren feels world schooling has been better for their sons as it’s taught them life skills such as empathy and resilience.
The couple decided to take the plunge when they realised their eldest son was struggling in school.
“He wasn’t really enjoying it,” she said. “He had a lot of troubles with his emotional stability.”
“Homeschooling is better for him (their eldest son) – he’s picked up a lot having us around constantly.”
Lauren and Roy were unsure if England was the right place for them as a family. They spent three months planning before they left the country to sort renting their house and learning how to home school their children.
They left for Abu Dhabi in January before going on to Bangkok and Ko Samui, Thailand, where they are currently staying before their tourist visa runs out.
The family’s next destination will be chosen based on the cheapest flights.
Lauren spends the morning homeschooling their eldest son using textbooks, before taking them out to places like bird farms for experiences, and she said the one on one time the family gain from this is valuable.
The family have also seen the benefits of a slower pace of life, with Lauren saying: “Life in the UK was go, go, go. I’d drop the kids off at school, go to nursery, go to the gym, do the food shop, go to swim lessons.
“It’s very chilled here. We’re less stressed, we get more time together – at the moment I can’t imagine going back to the UK.”
The family have no set plans of how long they will travel for, but have rented out their house in the UK for 18 months.
“We know we’re privileged to do this. If it inspires another family to do this that would be amazing,” Lauren added.
